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Bloggy Help:

Better Blogging in 2011

Blogging can be easy and super fun, but it can also take time out of a busy schedule. Why put all that hard work into blogging if a new reader is going to pass us by? Here are a few tips for making your blog super friendly and your readers happy:

We suggest adding a new post at least three or four times a week. This way readers won't forget about you!

Do use easy to read fonts and type sizes. Do not use hard-on-the-eyes colors and flashing buttons.

Think twice about playing music on your blog. There are many reasons for this: blogging at night while lying in bed and not wanting to wake up your husband, or baby who just fell asleep after being awake for hours, and not knowing if the songs you've chosen are suitable to all would-be listeners. Plus, a reader may have music on already! If you'd like to have music playing on your blog while you work on it, that is an option. Check out playlist.com for free music streaming.

Think about turning off Word Verification. Your commenters/readers do not want to type in that crazy word just to leave a comment. Some commenters may skip over leaving a comment if they see Word Verification. (Don't know what Word Verification is or how to change it on your blog? We have a tutorial coming up soon). You know everyone hates wv.

Use spell check if you are in doubt when writing a post. You can also check facts at Wikipedia or Google it.

Read or watch tutorials about the platform your blog uses...this will help you learn the ins and outs of Blogger, Wordpress, etc.

Gain traffic to your blog by using Social Bookmarking tools, such as Digg, Stumbleupon, etc. These sites are known to send traffic your way, once your posts gets enough votes from the community. Take care to follow usage guidelines, otherwise your blog may be banned.

Gain traffic by commenting. When a reader leaves you a comment, etiquette might require you to comment back. There are several schools of thought about this. Readers have the tendency to click on a commentator's link to learn more about them. Learn to accept creative criticism, but do not accept abuse. You can always delete comments!

I'm just curious with the word verification being turned off if you advocate comment moderation to keep spam from posting. I agree that one more step is a pain, especially if entering a giveaway multiple times. But, I also know that I've had only a handful of spammers adding comments.

Amen to no music for your readers. I appreciate the turn off the verification; especially if your blog is in a blog hop. I have skipped a lot of kind comments due to time constraints and the hassle. I love your tips and want to be a better bloggers. :0)

Many of these tips are wonderful. Yet, I adore music, I started blogging in 2007 and I create a special song to match every post.

I think we must remember that rules are made to be broken so we stay being as unique and creative as each blog. Lately many blogs look identical to me. Not like in the beginning when we all started to blog.

Daisy Cottage is one of the most popular blogs and she started blogging in 2006. I love going to her blog and hearing the familiar song that identifies who Kim is.

If someone wants to be on the computer late at night, they can just turn their sound off.

Word verification was put in place to protect bloggers from people from other parts of the world leaving vulgar comments. Which happened to me. Now I have comments approved and word verification to protect myself and my readers from clicking on to an unsafe link.

Some good ideas but not about turning off word verification. If someone has unlimited tech resources to fix their spammed computer (& doesn't mind that their other visitors are in danger from spammers on their site), by all means, go ahead. For the rest of us--no way. I am not that desperate to increase comments. I never ever ever leave w/out commenting if there is something I have to say.

I just read more of what Karen said above, in last graf, & I can't say it any better.

I've had music on my blog for years and will continue to for as long as my blog is alive. With pretty much any playlist creator, there is the option of automatic playing or not. If my readers want the music on, they just have to press play.

I think your blanket statement of "no music" is a bit rash! Please just advise people to choose the non-automatic play mode!

P.s. I use podsnack.com for my playlists, because I love the customization features, however, it's not free.

I will be spending more time here later when my son falls asleep! I did enter my blog and blogged about your! Thanks for all the help! I am not a ver computer literate person so I can use all the help I can get!

Comments are how we stay connected as bloggers. Let us know how you feel and we'll return the favor...stay calm and blog on!!! And guess what? You'll never find Word Verification on our blog...it gets kind of annoying when you can't read what WV wants you to verify right?

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The Blog Guidebook has TONS of great tutorials and resources available for bloggers who are looking to spice up their blogs! Seriously...if I haven't linked to anything you've found helpful yet...check THIS one out for sure!!